Michael Arden, best director for his revival of Parade, said he was often called "the F-word." (The NYT wouldn't print the word either.) Then "he drew raucous cheers as he reclaimed the slur, making clear that he was now one with a Tony." - The New York Times
After Shakespeare in Love, Weinstein pressured Fiennes to sign a five-movie contract. "The actor claimed he was effectively threatened by Weinstein that if he did not comply with the offered deal, he would not work in Hollywood again." - The Observer (UK)
One TV exec: "I think we were always thinking about a guy. If I'm being honest, I don't know why. But I think that's, you know, what we were conditioned to think." - Salon
Or so surveys of one Very Large Company (yes, the one that's always in the news for trying to bust unions and not cooling its warehouses, etc.) says. - Fast Company
Google's demonetizing of a popular conservative streamer's videos for her deadnaming and misgendering of trans folks marks a new stage for the company (one that's the opposite of where Twitter is heading). - Fast Company
"The building’s remarkable story of survival, transformation and resistance makes it a poignant location for cultural activities that promote dyadic education and exchange within the West Bank and the rest of the world." - The Art Newspaper
Basically, the studio was not - at the time - on board with a feminist version. "She said she should’ve known the project wasn’t for her when the studio gifted her a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes to celebrate her casting." - Variety
The institution in question is the Mütter Museum, which is focused on anatomy. The actions by new leaders, "mostly centered on concerns about displaying human remains, include taking down much of the Mütter's online presence, backing off programming, and questioning the appropriateness of popular Mütter exhibits." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
The "Kemet: Egypt in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul & Funk" show at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden has so incensed authorities in Cairo — who insist that the exhibition's "Afrocentric" approach is "falsifying history" — that they've banned the museum's archaeologists from continuing their decades-long excavations at the Saqqara necropolis. - CNN
It's called the Perelman Performing Arts Center because Ron Perelman gave the $75 million that finally got the building started in 2016, but the gift from the former mayor, now the Center's board chair, got it completed. And he gave another $130 million to The Shed. - The New York Times
The Lebanese creative scene has never been more prosperous and vibrant: it has kept on blooming like an unlikely flower on a volcano’s crater. Painters, sculptors, poets, dancers, photographers, musicians, novelists, designers, playwrights, chefs, performers … these are the superheroes of our country. - The Guardian
The Amsterdam Avenue façade of the campus has always seemed sterile and forbidding, the tall, blank walls of the building giving the feeling of a fortress blocking out the neighbors (including the public housing across the street). This renovation aims to open the campus up. - The New York Times
"The purpose of the arts is to question, challenge, reflect and enlighten. Great art reveals a truth, and debate and disagreement about the nature of that truth is a function of art. But such is the rallying power of social media, debate is being stifled by self-censorship and fear of disagreeing. - Prospect
Financial reasons are the top barrier to attendance, affecting four in 10 audience members, especially the under-55s, according the audience research. - ArtsHub
"BP's sponsorship of the British Museum has ended after 27 years, new disclosures make clear, bringing to a close one of the highest-profile and most controversial of such deals in recent years, and marking the almost complete retreat of the fossil fuel giant from the British arts world." - The Guardian
